Archive for karate

Will Daniel get that leg swept again? Whatever happened with anyone from the Karate Kid 2? Will Daniel meet Hillary Swank’s character for a team-up beatdown? At least one of these questions will be answered in the webseries Cobra Kai, and behold the teaser below:

Hmm. I’ve been hesitant about this series ever since I heard about it, but there is a chance to have good drama following these characters again. I can’t imagine these characters will face off again, but who knows? I wonder who the fight choreographer is? What do ya’ll think?

After years of watching Marc Dacascos on the big and small screen, he finally steps behind the camera for his first film, produced and starring 3-time Mr. Universe Alexander Nevsky and a whole horde of b-movie stars. So how did his first venture do?

It has moments that aren’t as good as it could have been, but this movie…

… is a LOT of fun.

Alexander Nevsky stars as Nick Peyton, a disgraced Thailand cop who now works as a private detective after he his whole team is killed in a botched raid on a drug den owned by a man known as The Wrath (the CHT!). Two years later Nick and his sex-crazed partner Charlie (Van Dien) are hired by a police sketch artist (Carrere) whose husband, a secret agent, is killed by The Wrath right in front of her. She pays them to bring him to her…alive. Now working in Manila, Nick has a second chance to get revenge for his fallen comrades, but he’ll need some high-powered help to finish the job…

The film, despite the Raid-like opening moves a little slow at the beginning, but picks up steam as the film goes on. While Alexander Nevsky is a little wooden in his acting, which may be a lot better had he spoken in his native Russian dialect, he is aided well by the presence of his co-star Casper Van Dien. They have a good on-screen chemistry with each other that more than makes up for a few weak acting moments from Nevsky, who is a large presence in the film, and the Dacascos family had the good sense to use that largeness for maximum effect. Van Dien does well bringing in the comedy aspects of the film, which helps keep things light and helps propel the film forward in its slower moments. The CHT is as a good a villain as always, but I wish he had been in the film more, but we do get some villainy from the always great Matthias Hues, but here again, I wish we had more of him. The directing by Mark is confident, even in the slower scenes, which I think could have been slightly better with just a little more editing down, but that’s a minor nitpick for the treasure of goods this film delivers, which comes in the form of a boat ride that brings in some of Nick’s friends during the climax of the film: Cynthia Rothrock, Olivier Gruner, and Don ” The Dragon” Wilson.

That’s right, ya’ll. China O’Brien, Nemesis, and Bloodfist show up to kick all kinds of ass 90’s style.

So let’s get into the action side of things, shall we? Early on we get a quick fight scene with Mark Dacascos that shows that the man can still kick all kinds of ass, and we need to see him back in a movie doing so pronto! His fight scene is really quick and far too short, but it looks good and is shot well. Fast forward to the big action finale, and I was transported back to 1992, ya’ll. At first there is a lot of gun play, and while I loved seeing everyone, I came to terms with the fact that they may all be too old to actually do a fight scene anymore, and that seeing them shooting folks will just have to do.

Silly rabbit. I should’ve had more faith in the film’s director. He knows what true fans want to see…

…and eventually the bullets run out.

What follows is an orgasmic cavalcade of action goodness, with Cynthia Rothrock going knives-out, and punching and kicking foes like the good ol’ days! ( Now I want to see what China O’Brien has been up to this past decade!) Don ” The Dragon” Wilson also gets a scene where he gets to show he can still kick with the best of them, and no one looks like they can take a hit and keep fighting like Don, and Olivier looks more brutal than I’ve ever seen him in an action scene. The fights are shot well, showing us the FULL action of what’s happening without quick-cut edits…because what we see on screen is real martial artists doing onscreen what they’ve been doing for decades. Kudos to Al Dacascos for making sure each action scene plays to the strengths of each fighter. I wish we could have had a bigger hand to hand combat scene for Nevsky, but there is so much other cool action happening I didn’t mind this time, but he does mix it up a little with Matthias Hues, and I wish THAT fight had been bigger, but maybe next time?

Look, this film isn’t for everyone. If you want something on the order of Tony Jaa or Iko Uwais, you won’t get that kind of wild action here. But for those of us who grew up on these kinds of films, it’s mana from heaven. Alexander Nevsky and Mark Dacascos did what The Expendables couldn’t do: provide a film that truly showcases what these action stars can still do, and make them look great at doing it.

Kiai-Kick’s Grade : 8.5

A really fun film that kicks you in the face with nostalgia, and the only thing that’s missing are four people: Jalal Merhi, Billy Blanks, Richard Norton, and the greatness himself, Al Leong. Showdown in Manila 2, perhaps?

Not even internet pirates can keep Boyka down, and finally, FINALLY we have the trailer for the long-awaited Undisputed 4 ( No more numerals! Now it’s just Boyka!) It looks as if Scott Adkins and Isaac Florentine are going to bring us the best Boyka yet! This looks fantastic, seeing Boyka fight in both the real world and in the ring. Check out the trailer below. Then watch it again. And again. The most complete fighter in the world is back. As the song says, ‘There Can Only Be One King!’

El Gato Negro is a latino superhero who fights crime in the Rio Grande Valley (South Texas) and defends the people from a viscious drug cartel run by Armando Ochoa also know as El Graduado. El Gato Negro gets his moniker from his grandfather, who was the original El Gato Negro, a luchador who fought crime on the side. Created by Richard Dominguez, EGN’s original run in the 90’s has a cult following that goes to this day.

I used to write for El Gato Negro, and saw Hollywood come a knockin’ a few times, but at the time they didn’t “get” what made EGN special. Fast forward to today, and after having some success with my webseries Cornered, pre-production has begun on El Gato Negro: Prey!

Watch the Video below and please, if you can’t donate then please share our page with everyone you know! Help me bring this Texas superhero to life, and check back here for more updates as production ramps up!

The moment I heard that director Sion Sono had created a Japanese Yakuza-swordplay-martial arts…wait for it…hip hop musical I laughed out loud, but after further thinking it became my most anticipated film of 2015. Suffice to say now that I’ve seen it, my year has been made.

Tokyo Tribe starts in the future, where earthquakes have devastated Japan, and Tokyo has been broken up and taken over by a colorful assortment of gangs (you gotta see how they visualize this). After grandma drops the sick beat (yeah, I said that) we meet the best of the gangs, a peaceful group called Mushashino, a group that looks like the 80’s never left (in the best ways possible) led by the always calm Tera and his right hand man Kai (Dias). The entire film takes place over the course of one blood soaked night, when the leader of the worst of the gangs, Merra, decides to destroy Mushashino to exact his revenge on Kai (the reason why is left for the end of the film) but to do so means destroying every gang, and Merra tries to do so, but things get complicated when Erika (, the virgin daughter of the High Priest (who is unlike any high priest ever seen) has gone missing, and is purported to be in one of the gang districts. Toss in human furniture, a finger chopping insane mob boss who gets himself off often in front of…anyone, rapping grandmas, tanks, a black dude with superhuman strength, and a giant gangwar finale complete with a DJ spinning in the middle of the fighting, and you haven’t scratched the surface of the insanity…

I loved this movie. I really loved this movie. It takes chances you will NOT see in American cinema nowadays, and the actors are all game for it. The hip hop songs, which are many, are actually pretty damn good. Special props go to Rikki Takeuchi as Merra’s father Buppa, as insane a Yakuza boss as you’ll ever see, and he chews every moment he’s onscreen. Sion Sono uses every camera trick imaginable to pull off this film, and despite everything he tosses onscreen, it all seems to work. My only real issue is toward the middle of the film, where I think the momentum slows down too much while spending time with Buppa and his crazy family.

The martial arts scenes are okay. Nothing great or fantastic, although the two hitmen sent by the High Priest are pretty awesome. The majority of fighting is done by Nana Seino, and she’s good, but really, the fighting just adds spice to the rap, and in some cases the actor have to act and fight at the same time.

In the end the film is about belonging to a group that really represents all of us, differences and all. So yeah, amidst all the crazy there’s a cool message there. One of the best films of the year.

‘Tokyo Tribe! Never ever Die!”

Kiai-Kick’s Grade: 9

Tokyo Tribe is a punch to the gut blast of hip-hop fun! I bet you’ll be humming the final song, ’cause who doesn’t want to be a part of the Tokyo Tribe? Where can I join?